Magnet schools and lack of cash doom class sizes

A GOVERNMENT pledge to reduce class sizes is doomed to failure as a result of too little cash and too many pupils trying to get into the best state schools.

Education chiefs claim they are "millions short" of the funds needed to deliver class size targets by 2007, and claim that many schools do not have the necessary space to build extra classrooms.

The dire prediction is a severe embarrassment for ministers who have pledged to cut class sizes for English and maths from 33 to 20 in the first and second years of secondary school, and from 30 to 25 in primary one by 2007. It could even result in strike action by teachers.

The problem is particularly stark in thriving areas such as East Renfrewshire and Inverness, where populations are increasing.

Research by Scotland on Sunday has revealed several council areas where schools are massively off target, with only 18 months to go until the Executive's deadline. Local authorities are already planning alternative measures to reduce pupil/teacher ratios, including teachers sharing classrooms.

A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) told Scotland on Sunday: "We are talking about a policy that will affect nearly a quarter of classes in Scottish schools, but the capacity just isn't there at the moment. The figures don't add up. We are millions short."

In the Highland Council area, S1 maths and English classes still have an average of 25 pupils. In S2 the figure is 24.

In East Lothian, where school rolls are predicted to rise by 12% in the next decade, average class sizes have risen from 25 and 25.2 in 2004 to 25.2 and 25.6 this year.

In East Renfrewshire, where top performing state schools are swamped by placing requests from neighbouring councils, S1 and S2 maths and English classes have been stuck at an average of 33 for the past three years.

An East Renfrewshire council source said: "We are a growing area and that is going to continue for at least 10 years. There is no slack in our system whatsoever. Teachers sharing classrooms may be the only answer."

St Ninian's, the Roman Catholic secondary in Giffnock, received 155 placing requests last year, with only 30 being successful. The school roll has increased by 13% in five years.

Edinburgh and West Lothian councils declined to provide up-to-date figures for average class sizes, but have been identified by Cosla as areas also under pressure.

It seems certain many primary schools will also miss the targets. Across Scotland, more than 40% of P1 pupils are currently being taught in classes of 26 and upwards.

Brian Boyd, professor of education at the University of Strathclyde, said a large part of the problem was schools lacking the physical space needed to build extra classrooms.

He said: "If the Executive had thought about this, they would have realised that they needed another schools building programme to meet the class size targets.

The Cosla spokesman said: "Some councils may redraw their catchment areas to use up spare capacity in an attempt to hit the targets, but that is not going to be popular with parents. In Edinburgh there are 10,000 spare primary class spaces but they are all in the wrong areas. Parents don't want their children to go to those schools."

Bruce Robertson, director of education at Highland Council, said: "We will struggle to meet the target on classroom space. We feel there is a better solution to this issue and that will involve team-teaching, with more than one teacher in a classroom. The Executive will have to acknowledge this and realise that we are responding to local circumstances."

Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the Educational Institute for Scotland, which voted narrowly against strike action on the issue earlier this month, said: "The Executive has made a commitment to reduce class sizes and we expect that to be honoured.

"It has been restated so often and so clearly that no one, certainly no teacher, will accept any dilution of it."

Bill McGregor, the general secretary of the Headteachers' Association of Scotland, said: "We have not got the teachers, we have not got the accommodation, and new schools that are being built are smaller than those they are replacing. We are facing the prospect of new schools with huts in the playground."

Lord James Douglas Hamilton, the Scottish Conservatives' education spokesman, added: "Ministers have ignored the practical realities of reaching these targets."

An Executive spokeswoman said: "Peter Peacock has made perfectly plain that the resources - extra teachers, budget for staffing and cash to build extra classrooms - will be in place to enable councils to meet the class size commitments by 2007."